On December 12, 2014, an Illinois federal judge found Dish Network LLC liable for participating in millions of unwanted telemarketing sales calls, where Dish Network could be subject to penalties exceeding $1 billion. Specifically, the District Court for the Central District of Illinois issued an opinion in United States of America v. Dish Network LLC
Ohio Court Holds That Cell Phone Subscriber Who Never Received Unwanted Call Has Standing to Sue Under the TCPA
In the latest of a series of “whodunit” cases, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio held that a subscriber who did not answer a single call that allegedly violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act still had standing to sue under the statute. In Maraan v. Dish Network LLC (Civil Action
In the Technology Age, Video Could Become the New Audio
Many consumers have heard of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the statute that prevents a company from autodialing a consumer’s cell phone without his or her prior express consent. Less well know is the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), a statute that prohibits “video tape service providers” from knowingly disclosing consumers’ personally identifiable information.
California Court Rejects FCC’s Broad Interpretation of ATDS under the TCPA
In Marks v. Crunch San Diego, LLC, Judge Bashant, a district court judge for the Southern District of California, found that the FCC lacks the authority to change the statutory definition of “automated telephone dialing system” (“ATDS”) under the TCPA. Judge Bashant determined that the FCC only has rulemaking authority over sections 227(b) and
Fourth Circuit Rules Debt Collector Violated “Call Charged” Section of TCPA for Using an ATDS to Call a Residential Landline
Earlier this month, the Fourth Circuit issued an unpublished opinion holding a debt collector’s autodialed calls to a residential landline with VoIP service violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act due to the fact that the consumer was charged for each call.
In Lynn v. Monarch Recovery Management, Inc., No. 13-2358, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS
The Second Circuit’s Ruling in Nigro v. Mercantile Adjustment Bureau Narrows Express Consent Under the TCPA
On October 16, the Second Circuit in Nigro v. Mercantile Adjustment Bureau, LLC, ruled against a debt collector by holding that the agency violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when it repeatedly called the plaintiff about his deceased mother-in-law’s debt. Despite the plaintiff providing the number called to the creditor, the Court of Appeals
The TCPA Balance Shifts: The Eleventh Circuit Decision in Mais is Extremely Favorable for Collectors
On September 29, the Eleventh Circuit issued its highly anticipated decision in Mais v. Gulf Coast Collection Bureau, Inc., overturning the district court’s prior holding and providing defense-favorable law on prior express consent. The decision was in response to an unprecedented May 2013 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
Plaintiffs Alleging TCPA and FDCPA Claims May Be Able to Circumvent Arbitration Where Calls Were Intended for an Unrelated Third Party
In Porter v. Dollar Financial Group, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122865, a Northern District of California court denied the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration based on the plaintiff’s allegation that the debt collection calls at issue were intended for a third party, and thus were not related to the contract containing the arbitration
Contracting and Text Sending is Sufficient for Exercise of Personal Jurisdiction in TCPA Class Action
In Payton v. Kale Realty, LLC, plaintiff Payton filed an amended complaint, asserting that defendant Kale used newly added defendant Voiceshot’s services to send unsolicited advertisements to potential customers’ cell phones. Voiceshot provides web-based cloud telecommunication services by which users can send mass text messages for a fee. Voiceshot is a Delaware company with
Is Your Smartphone an ATDS? The United States Says “No”.
TCPA litigation is running rampant in courts throughout the country. Automatic telephone dialing systems, or “ATDSs” or “autodialers”, are at the heart of virtually every TCPA case involving cell phones. Why? Because if a call to a person’s cell phone was not made with an ATDS as defined by the statute, there is virtually no